Dust off your Homer, rinse out that snorkel. This is the year to sail those wine-dark seas, to feel the warm Aegean sand between your toes, and to wish upon a dozen shooting stars. Go to Greece now, because the cranes, the bulldozers and the “Closed until August 2004” notices no longer clutter the land.
As natural-born philosophers, the Greeks knew that when it came to preparing for the Olympics, the last minute was as good as any other. But now, in the warm afterglow of the games, even the locals are pinching themselves in wonder: out of the rubble, a new Greece has emerged — sassy, upbeat and better than ever.
Athens, in particular, once scorned as a shambolic eyesore, has seen its biggest face-lift since the time of Pericles. A lovely garden walk around the Acropolis, linking the ancient sites, has transformed the city’s core. The existing museums have been refurbished and a new one has just opened, dedicated to Islamic art; while exciting “Medi- terranean fusion” restaurants have helped to transform Europe’s oldest capital into a hot new city-break destination.
All over Greece, though, things are changing. The spartan hotel rooms of yore, with their cement-bag pillows and walls decorated with squashed mosquitoes, are giving way to some of the most lavish resorts on the planet, often with a pool and spa bath per room.
You can find boutique hotels by top designers, B&Bs in frescoed 18th-century mansions, Venetian estates converted into exquisite villas. You can sleep in a traditional mountain guesthouse, serenaded by nightingales, or in a cottage in an olive grove, with riding stables and home-grown organic food laid on. Around the corner from this new, upmarket Greece, the old Greece trundles merrily along. Wizened old women riding donkeys get harder to find every year, but you can still idle away whole afternoons in a kafenion in the shade of a 500-year-old tree — no country on earth is more conducive to reverie.
You can still trip along mule paths, too, the very ones tramped by the ancient Minoans, into gorges bursting with wild flowers. And on a summer day, the seaside pines give off a scent as intoxicating as a carafe of ouzo. Breaking the plates may land you a big fat fine these days, but kefi, that boundless spirit of joy that Greeks live for, can still spontaneously take hold when you least expect it, and leave you dancing at dawn on a beach with the latest incarnation of Zorba. At moments like these, Greece can be living poetry — so clear, so beautiful and so true that you tremble and ache from just being there.
This is a country of idiosyncrasies, in its people but also in its geography. The islands grab the lion’s share of tourist attention: the Cyclades with their white villages crisp against an indigo sky; the softer, greener beauty of the Ionians; Crete, a continent and civilisation in itself; and so many more. But the mainland is full of beauty spots, too. Beyond the poster places — the Meteora, Epidaurus, Delphi and Olympia — lie the idyllic villages of the Pelion and the Pindos mountains; the Arcadian heart of the Peloponnese; and northern Greece, whose lakes and mountains harbour the fascinating sites of Pella, Dion, Vergina and Naoussa, associated with Alexander the Great.
No matter where you go, Greece has a particular gift: within minutes of arriving, you cease to feel like a stranger. As a country, it is tolerant, eccentric, sublime, sometimes maddening and nearly always fun. As the cradle of western civilisation, it is also your big fat spiritual home.
Unless stated, family package prices are for August and adult prices are for June. Where flights are included, they are from London. Ask the operator for UK regional or Irish departures.
Page 2: the best trips with kids
Page 3: holidays for adults
()Heavenly Hellas — the best trips for your little devils
Hunt a minotaur, hire a kayak or just go paddling: it’s Greece for families
Greece’s affable, easy-going ways have long made it a favourite with families. You can take children almost anywhere, and the sandy beaches and shallow seas are perfect for tots. Children thrive on the old taverna stand-bys of makaronia, bifteki, watermelon and ice cream. And even the remotest islands have a music bar to keep your teenager bopping happily under the stars.
